Easton
EC90 XC
Handlebar

Product Description

Ever since the early '90s, Easton handlebars have been synonymous with performance. The Easton EC90 Handlebar is the lightest, widest, and strongest yet thanks to Easton Mountain Composite and the latest evolution of Taperwall technology.

User Reviews

Strengths: super lightweight! 119g! not 99g like posted.. the taperwall tech. used really helps with preventing over tightening 5Nm!

Weaknesses: 590mm wide. could have been wider with cut lines. even thou its made in a way to prevent cracking from over tightening, you can still over tighten them and then break them on a ride because of doing so.

Bottom Line:

as long as you install them and tighten them down to the specs provided by the factory, these bars are top of the line... period...

Strengths: Light and well finished. A good width for someone my size. With my bikes and where I ride, I like flat bars that are on the narrow side.

Weaknesses: Impact strength.

Bottom Line:

May be too light for people who ride in the backcountry. At least my handlebar broke near a bus route. I broke mine when I went over at fairly low speed on a road ride. I've fallen at much faster speeds off road, and this failure could easily have left a rider stranded, or trying a trailside McGyver to avoid a long walk out.

It was only my second ride on a new bar. Looks like the impact with the pavement was near the end of the bar, like where you'd mount bar ends! The bar snapped between the shifter and brake lever mounts, but it did not come apart completely.

Light and well finished, sure. But I'm only 165 lb! I hadn't weighed the bike yet, but based on its previous setup, I'd guess it's under 21.5 lb. I expected a stronger product.

Depending on your intended use, you may be better off with the EC70. That's what I'll replace it with before going back to titanium. I will never put a carbon bar on my full suspension bike.

This is a great bar. I'm a bit of an oddball and refuse to buy a road bike, so when I'm training I just throw slick 1.25 tires onto my RFX and hit the pavement. This bar is perfect for road rides. My shoulders are medium width, so this bar is ergonomically perfect for more static upper body low-leverage rides (i.e. road). However, if you take this out onto the trails, be ready for a solid arm workout trying to keep the front wheel straight with the reduced leverage: you definitely sacrifice control in rocky/rooty sections. Nonetheless, this is my everyday bar and I love it. And contrary to what some others have said, I have not had the bar-end problems. I took a little 80 grit sandpaper to the very ends of the bar, then put a very very thin layer of rubber cement on the inside of the ends....let dry thoroughly and then clamp on but go easy on the torque. As long as you're not putting a ton of force on your bar ends, you're set. Mine haven't moved in the last 1,000 miles of constant use.

This bar is lighter than you will believe and stronger than you will believe. I used a 150g Ritchey flat bar before I tried this, and I was amazed at how much stiffer and more secure this bar felt while weighing less.

BUT...it is fairly narrow, and the carbon is not compatible with bar ends. Easton says that for a reason; I put bar ends on it and on the first ride out with them, they shredded the end of the bar when I put heavy force on them (the fiber layout just plain isn't designed for torsional force). If the bar were not so narrow this wouldn't be an issue for me, but for such a narrow bar I definitely need bar ends to climb well.

Oh, I should mention that even though I abused the bar by doing something Easton explicitly said not to do, they still replaced the bar under warranty with no questions asked. Easton has really, really good customer service, so even if this isn't the bar for you, I still recommend them.

3 flaming chili's because although it's light and stiff, it accomplishes this partly be being short and the incompatibility with bar ends is just unacceptable (who runs a flat bar without bar ends these days anyway?). Also a 3 for value, because it's quite pricey for a MTB handlebar.

Weaknesses: Expensive; I probably wouldn't have bought it for myself, may be too narrow for broad-shouldered riders

Bottom Line:

These bars are amazing. They're much stronger and sturdier than ultra-thin Al bars that weigh twice as much. I still can't get over how much they weigh.

They are somewhat narrow so I could see that being a problem, but I've got super-skinny shoulders so that's no problem for me. It's not as wide as a DH/FR riser bar, but it's not supposed to be; it's a flat bar. I believe Easton makes risers out of this same material, so I would go for that if you prefer risers.

It is expensive, but if you can get a deal on it (or price is not an issue), definitely go for it.

Strengths: Rock solid. No cracks or breaks after some extreme wrecks and lots of preassure.

Weaknesses: are there any?

Bottom Line:

I put about 5k mi per yr on some hard trails. I hammered this bar for the last 4 yrs expecting to replace it after the first season from some of the first reviews below. I wipped out many time, broken thumbs and had some bad endos that I thought would crack the frame, bar and shifters. This things has stood up very well. I have my shifters pretty tight since I don't like them to move when I ride and had them hammered into new and unusual positions after hairy wrecks and still no cracks or breaks. Buy this bar if you have the money. Buy this bar if you are worried about weight. Buy this bar if you want to stick with a great product for yrs and not worry about it failing. Do not buy this if weight is no worry, you spend little time on your bike or don't want to fork out $100 for a bar.

Wow..what can i say? This is just the best thing that i have ever bought...! Carbon may seem weak.. but not Easton's! Theirs are even stronger than some aluminium bars.. After taking off my SUPER HEAVY kalloy handlebar and switched to this... whenever i go over a small bump, my whole front wheel practically lifts off the ground due to the light weight.. This has NEVER happened before on any of my aluminium bars.. Also, the lifetime warranty has given me alot of confidence in this company.. Be sure that i'll buy a stem and seatpost from Easton really soon.. ! Way to go Easton...! Weeeee-haa! =D

Weaknesses: I crashed on pavement once, and landed straight on the end of this bar. Now I noticed the end of the bar looks like its layers are peeling.

Bottom Line:

I have pulled HARD on this bar climbing in races, and have yet to see any flex. Going downhill I fel as safe as any Aluminum bar Ive had. And Going through singletrack has actually made me a bit faster due to the 22", compered to the 24" other bars have. This is the perfect race bar, and at only 99 grams. I would buy another in a heardbeat.

This bar has worked flawlessly for me since the day I bought it. I think Im about to replace it, with another one. I have heard that using carbon bars for a long period of time isn't very safe. I have gotten a good amount of miles on it, and will definitely be buying another one in a months time

im reading lots of complaints about being too narrow, if your a serious xc racer, narrower is better. most of my other bars i end up cutting 2-4 inches off anyway, if its too narrow, easton makes other wider bars so quit your whining and buy the right bar for you. also carbon has seven times the strength than aluminum and can handle much higher flex count before it even starts fatiguing.

i run grip shift and it has more than enough room. i still love my wcs bar (115 grams 21" wide and aluminum), but its been a year of abuse and aluminum cracks before it bends.